Aerie
by JanuaryFriend
Summary: In her mind's eye, Hanabi sees the dark future. Branch members aren't the only cursed ones.


Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Author's notes: This has been running rampant in my mind for a long time now. Warnings for over-used metaphors. Please let me know what you think._

**Aerie**

Her cousin Neji has always believed in an inescapable destiny, a force above and beyond himself that has determined his path, and his shortchanged father's, and that of all the unfortunate Hyuga branch members. A great wheel that somehow rolls them doggedly, unerringly along, whilst still keeping them locked behind the thick bars of their cage, suffering in silence. Doom is the inheritance of the cadets, and freedom the luck of the main branch.

At least, that is what Neji has always thought.

Hanabi, though, knows better. As the probable heir to her clan, Fate has placed her in the highest nest, the family's most guarded, sacred spot. With her amazing Byakugan and the great heights she was born to, she can see far, and there are no gilded bars to inhibit her view. Here, at the apex of her clan, Hanabi's future stretches brightly out before her.

She is a majestic eagle, perched on high, the lower members of the family mere sparrows. And yet she is no freer than Neji, no more liberated than her cursed cousins with their etched foreheads. She too has a destiny, painful and inexorable. One that cannot be avoided. One that may very well claim her life, and at the very least, will cost her soul.

For Hanabi has an older sister, Hinata, and they sit together in the harsh, high nest that is the world of the main family. Buffeted by the winds of life, and constantly watched by the sharp white eyes of their father, they begin to grow and learn. They fledge and flap their wings in increasing desperation, mastering the ancient techniques that will keep the clan alive and well.

Hanabi is doing quiet well, growing a magnificent plumage and amazing sharp set of talons. She is quick, strong and decisive, capable of killing on her own now. Her eyes are keen, her call loud and piercing. She is almost ready to fly, to take her place at the top.

Hinata, on the other hand, still has a long way to go. Too long.

Hanabi glances at her from under lowered lashes, and frowns. Hinata, she thinks, is not a raptor at all, but a soft, pale dove. She'll never change her feathers, and one day she will fall from their roost.

And that reminds Hanabi of a conversation she had with her father as a child. She'd drawn Hiashi a picture for his birthday, an infantile scribbling showing two happy eagle chicks in a nest. Her father had glanced at her paper and frowned. "That's not how it works, Hanabi. Often, one hatchling will push the other from the nest, will kill it in order to receive the full attention of the adults. It is a survival mechanism."

Hanabi had been both horrified and fascinated, and a dark shadow had crossed her heart, causing her to shiver. And from that moment on, she _knew._ Her or her sister, it matters little. One of them is Fated to fall, to lose, to die.

For now, their observant father has a tight hold of their jesses. He keeps the two of them still and calm, under control, and far away from one another. Knowing that only one daughter can learn the last few secret jutsu and become clan head, he watches and waits, hoping that one will soon prove capable of flight. Hiashi must pick right the first time, because he will not get a second chance.

The moment Hiashi lets go, the second the reins fall slack, one of his anxious chicks will throw the other from the highest crags, will watch calmly as its sibling dies, thus ensuring its own continued existence.

A survival mechanism. Nothing personal.

"Hanabi, are you a- alright?" Hinata's voice is too gentle, a quiet coo. She'll never learn to fly, not properly. Not with any sort of real strength.

Hanabi turns remorseful white eyes toward her older sister, and smiles a small smile, sad and knowing. Her heart skips a beat, but she never lets on. "I'm fine."

When that moment comes, she'll be ready. No matter what it costs her.

That is her own painful destiny.


End file.
